Do You Care for the Dregs

Death is a tragic thing, and I'm often touched to see people who respond in public ways to deaths in their community. However, I often wonder, after I read descriptions of those who have passed, which invariably focus on the positives of the departed, and it makes me wonder about those who invariably die, but are not remembered as fondly. This is largely directed at myself, as I often find it easy to pass over those who I am not naturally drawn to, and I need to focus more on the inherent worth of each individual, regardless of how pleasant they are.

You know of whom I speak, the ones

You would never think to make events

For on Facebook, the ones whose deaths

Are just as tragic, just as young,

From causes equally out of reach

Of human hands, save for the drunk

Who thought to go behind the wheel,

Or the Pediatrician who figured

Cancer wouldn’t develop so early,

Maybe we can blame them,

But not even that blame will bring

Them back, so you won’t need to wince

When they try to catch your eye.

Go on, convince yourself you care

For the ends of all those around you,

But only after these unsightly sods

Are well in your wake, with all

The emotional flotsam and jetsam

You didn’t care to carry any longer.